Watch the Walls Crash Down
by no-dreams-tonight
Summary: Having recovered from dragonpox after a year, James is thrust into his final year at Hogwarts alongside his younger brother Al. As the Potters cope with each other and their past, Alice and Iris stand on the sidelines watching the walls built by the brothers crash down. :: James/OC; Al/OC; Rose/Scorpius
1. Prologue - James

**disclaimer**: Nothing you recognize belongs to me.

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**Watch the Walls Crash Down**

_Prologue_ - _James_

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When the spots first came, I had shrugged them off as a prank. Fred was completely capable of making me look ugly so that he would be the more loved one among the birds. He had once cursed Lucy off with sickly green spots, and I remembered that quite clearly. My family had had a great laugh that day — Luce had been particularly annoying, having just got her Hogwarts letter. Aunt Angie had grounded Fred the next day till the end of the summer for using magic at home, of course, but that hadn't made the spots disappear until Uncle George had given Lucy a potion that reversed the effects of the spell.

So I had assumed the ugly spots all over my body were Fred's work until I realized that he hadn't been anywhere near me for the last couple days. His family were in Romania. It wasn't possible.

Then I thought of them as allergies of some sort.

That wasn't impossible, either. Roxanne had once had rashes all over her neck because she had eaten pixie nuggets when she was allergic to one of the ingredients.

They weren't extremely noticeable, either, because hardly anyone at practice raised their eyebrows when I took of my shirt in the locker room. I could see that they were all over my body, but I supposed no one else could.

That had been my misconception till I had returned home one day from Windrise. My mother had just returned from a meeting with the Prophet editor. Her eyes had widened on seeing me and she had side-alonged me back to Windrise.

Windrise was the training ground for one half of the junior league Quidditch teams, including the Falmouth Falcons for whom I played. Mum, being an ex-Chaser of the Holyhead Harpies - whose Junior team also trained there - had stormed into the ground manager's office.

Aisling Troy-Davies had widened her eyes as well, and from then on everything had just gone downhill. The resident healer, Nurse Perks, had examined my spots and then advised Mum to take me to St. Mungo's as quick as possible. So Mum had side-alonged me there instantly.

That night, I had found myself in a ward at Mungo's, with a horrid green tinge to my skin that was now studded with larger spots. A week later, I found that sparks would fly out of my nose every time I sneezed.

I refused to look at myself in the mirror because I was afraid of how I looked. I would see my mother looking down at me while I was on the hospital bed and I would look away. Lily didn't have the courage to look at me. Al would grimace when he had to do so.

I had gone from being James Potter, Hogwarts' golden boy, Falcons' Junior team's star player and every girl's fantasy to James Potter, that guy with dragonpox.

I had once been a lion. I had been brave, and courageous, and dauntless. I had been cocky, humorous, and everyone's favorite Potter boy.

Then the dragon had taken over.

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**a/n**: uh, so I've just recently ventured back into the world of fanfiction...well, don't judge me or anything. I promise that the upcoming chapters will be longer and better-written. This idea has been haunting me for quite a while, so yeah.

Concrit welcome. I would also love it if anyone wanted to beta this story (basically, nag me into writing the next chapter). PLEASE review, yeah?

~Isha


	2. One - Iris

**disclaimer**: Nothing you recognize belongs to me.

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**Watch the Walls Crash Down**

_Chapter One _- _Iris_

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Iris, in Greek mythology, signified a personification of the rainbow. She had been the messenger of the Gods, carrying their secrets with her. It was known that she could travel by the speed of the wind from one end of the world to another; from the depths of the sea to those of the underworld.

Flower lovers would know an iris when they looked at it, such was the uniqueness and beauty of it. They said that it symbolised wisdom, and when presented to someone, signified deep sentiments.

The Iris was also the state flower of Tennessee, USA and it was the name of a song by the band Goo Goo Dolls as well.

In Manda Muller's 'A Concise Dictionary of Wizarding Names', the name Iris had a whole page to itself.

So I supposed that it was a pretty well-known name, if not all that conventional. My mother hadn't really thought about what the world would think when she christened me Iris. It had just been a pretty name that rhymed with my father's.

And slowly but gradually, I had embraced it.

Don't let what my friends say fool you - I loved my name. I had once been a pesky second year who attempted to hex anyone whose mouth dared say 'Iris'. I had gone by Riss back then. That phase had soon dissolved when my first crush had given me a bunch of irises on Christmas. Iris then became my favorite flower and I convinced all my friends to call me by my full name.

The irises had wilted, and nearly as fast, my crush had faded away. My love for my name, however, had stuck.

And irises had stayed my favorite flowers, too, although my glare towards the bunch in my hand told otherwise.

You see, the only thing I hated more than talking to pretty-pretty fake blondes who thought they were the shit, was being stood up.

Daniel had known that.

I could practically hear Rosie's voice scream "I told you so" in my head and Janus, Al and Scorp ready to beat the guy down. I could feel Alice and Missy patting me on my back, saying it would all be okay.

It was _not_ all okay.

I mean, I know I should've been careful. Actually, I shouldn't even have said yes to Daniel Wood. But I had, and here I was.

I had been dressed for a date, in a pretty black dress Missy had picked out for me. My hair had been beautified; my eyes and face were completely made up. I had come to the Leaky Cauldron thinking that Daniel Wood, my boyfriend of two months, was going to show and lift me off my feet. I had thought that he would take me to a beautiful restaurant, and then kiss me goodnight. I would return home later than expected, and my mother would pretend-scold me while actually asking me about the date.

At that moment, I was crying and it wasn't as much for the fact that I'd been stood up as because I'd been _wrong_.

I was always right.

Today, however, things had turned out differently, and Daniel Wood had proved me wrong. I had been thinking that he would take me to a date that I would cherish. I had thought incorrectly. Daniel Wood had never showed up.

So instead of leaving the Leaky Cauldron with the Seeker of the Bats, I had left the pub alone and crying.

While walking the London streets alone, an owl had flown and dropped an envelope that had Daniel's scrawl on it. I didn't want to open it, fearing the worst. Curiosity, however got the better of me and I found myself reading through a very obviously hastily written 'apology' (for the lack of a better word).

_Iris,_

_Met some groupies on the way to Leaky. Won't be able to make it. Will see you later in the summer._

_Some irises to keep you content._

_Dan_

The irises, as it had turned out, were certainly not fresh and I suspected that Daniel had thrown them in the envelope at the last moment after seeing them somewhere nearby wherever he had written the letter.

The worst part of being stood up by Daniel Wood, though, wasn't the letter or the irises. It was a part of both. I didn't care so much that he wanted to hang with his Quidditch groupies. What I minded, though, was how he had assumed that sending a bunch of wilted flowers was going to keep me content.

My _foot_.

I was too emotional to apparate home. I remember my father telling me the story of him apparating home after being rejected by my mother. He said that he'd been so emotional that he hadn't concentrated on the destination.

He had got home with an ear still in Stratford.

I was scared of splinching myself (who wouldn't be?) so I decided to get a cab home. Not home, actually - I didn't have enough money to take me to Surrey. I was going to go to Al's house and then floo from there.

Al had written to me some days ago, saying that Rosie and her younger brother, Hugo were going to stay a week or so. I crossed my fingers hoping they were still there as I got into a cab. I gave the Potters' address and kept looking out to the streets of London until we reached Grimmauld Place.

Number 12 looked just like the other houses nearby, but it had that look of oddity and uniqueness to it. Truth was, I had never gotten there by road - whenever I came to visit Al, I came through the fireplace. Alice had mentioned the external looks of the house once, though.

I rang the doorbell expecting Al or Lily to answer, but when the door opened, a very familiar yet very unknown face was the one I saw. It wasn't Rosie or Hugo either - it was Al's elder brother, James.

"Um," I stammered. I hadn't spoken to James in months - or was it years? "Are Rosie and Al around? I'm their friend, Iris."

James Potter had dark hair like his father and a cynical look on his face that never seemed to go away. I was used to it - he'd been in my house every year I'd been at Hogwarts. Every year, that is, except for my sixth year. He'd been admitted to St. Mungo's near the end of the summer holidays, having been affected by the dragonpox bug that had been going around in the Quidditch circles. He'd missed his seventh year due to that. Al had told me that he'd been fit to attend Hogwarts in March, but by then it had been too late and he wouldn't have been able to cope up with N.E.W.T. studies and everything else.

"I know who you are," James told me, opening the door wider for me to come in. "Rosie and Al have gone just floo-ed to the Burrow to pick up some cake. They'll be back soon. You can just wait for them."

"I actually was in the area, so..." I trailed off, looking at the doubtful look on James' face. "Do you mind if I use your fireplace to get home?" I asked.

He nodded. "Sure. Follow me."

I had known the Potter family ever since I had befriended Al on the Hogwarts Express. I'd met a fraction of his numerous cousins then as well, and after being sorted into Gryffindor, Al had introduced me to his big brother. When we had arrived at King's Cross for Christmas break, I had been introduced to Mrs. Potter and Al's younger sister Lily. A few years later in the holidays after my fourth year, I had met Al's father, the 'Boy Who Lived', Harry Potter.

They were all great people. I wasn't saying that because of their contribution to wizarding history - I was saying that because they had been nothing but nice to me. Al was, of course, one of my best friends and Lily was too cute for her own good (although she'd hate it if I said that to her). James seemed like a great guy as well: I knew him to be sarcastic and fun and smart and charismatic.

The Potters were great people, so I'm sure they didn't mind me using their fireplace to floo home.

I looked around the corridor James was leading me through and discovered that the walls had recently been redone. I had once heard Mrs. Potter rambling to Mrs. Weasley (Rosie's Mum) about how the house had begun looking gloomy again ("As depressing as it was in the Black age," she'd said). So I supposed that was why.

We got to the sitting room and James took out the floo container from its holder. I saw him looking inside, and then realizing that it was nearly empty. The amount that was in it was not enough for a trip to Surrey.

"Do you mind waiting here? I'll just go refill the floo powder…" James said. I gestured for him to go ahead and sat down on the couch besides the fireplace.

That's when I wondered when things had gotten this awkward between us. Sure, James and I had never been close. I was his younger brother's friend, not his. We'd always been cordial to each other, though, friendly even. I vividly recalled us teaming up to pull Al's leg one day in fourth year. Maybe it had been a one time thing, but that ought to have bought some warmth between us.

At the door, I had had to _introduce_ myself to him. Who even does that to someone they've known for nearly seven years?

When James came back to the room, not only did have the floo container with him, but in his other hand was a tray on which there were two glasses that clearly contained pumpkin juice.

I was a bit surprised to say the least, but I guess Potter boys were born with chivalry in their veins.

He offered me a glass and I graciously accepted it. I had no reason not to. He placed the container in its holder and then sat on the couch opposite to the one I was sitting on. For a few minutes, it was just awkward.

"So Al told me that you're doing seventh year with us," I said in a weak attempt at conversation. James looked up from his glass.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I am."

That pretty much made the awkwardness return. While drinking the remainder of the pumpkin juice, I looked at James. Any sign of drangonpox had nearly faded away. There was no green tinge to his skin. The boils that would have been there at the time of ailment had all gone, and there were only a few spots near his nose that looked strangely like Weasley freckles. Of course, he wasn't as muscular as he had been the last time I had seen him. I supposed that recovery had taken up a lot of his strength.

The silence between us was broken when the fireplace blazed, and Rosie Weasley appeared, her red hair fiery and skin glistening.

"James, Nana Molly thought you'd be with us. You really ought to–" Rosie stopped when she saw me. "Iris! What're you doing here? I thought you and Daniel were on a date today. Wait, he didn't stand you up, did he? I'd told you he wasn't right, I."

I sighed. "Rosie, I don't want to talk about it," I said.

"Merlin, Al and Scorp are going to _murder_ him," Rose murmured, before changing the topic. "Anyway! Iris, how did you come here?"

"Didn't feel like being at Diagon Alley, didn't want to apparate home," I shrugged.

"Wouldn't it have been more sensible to floo from Leaky, though? I mean, even Alice's bedroom has a fireplace, I'm sure she could've– Oh," Rose realised.

Behind her, Albus Potter had turned up. He saw me and widened his eyes.

"Oh, Wood is so dead," he said, trying to sound menacing. Needless to say, he failed.

"It's pretty routine, if it makes you feel any better. Quidditch players tend to stand up their Hogwarts girlfriends," James spoke for the first time since Rose had turned up in the fireplace. All of us looked at him.

"What?" He asked. "Andrew Davies stood Dom up last summer, didn't he? I'd beat him up with Freddie."

"Right," Rose said. "So, Iris, do you want go home straight away or play Throw with us? Al and I were going to play against James, since he's so good, but since you're here we could play two against two. Come on, it'd be fun."

I supposed that would be good for me, to forget about the prattiness of Daniel Wood. There were only two problems.

"I'd have loved to, Rosie, but I'm not exactly wearing sports attire," I said, looking at my dress. "Besides, I don't have my broomstick."

"Those aren't excuses," Al said. "We have a few broomsticks in the attic, I'm sure you could use one of those. You could use Lily's clothes, she's not going to mind. Unlike someone else I can name," he coughed, looking at Rose.

"Why would I mind Iris wearing my clothes, Al?" Rose asked impatiently.

"Because they're not _really_ your clothes, are they, Rosiekins? And Scorpius is not going to like Iris wearing his t-shirts, is he?" Al teased. Rose blushed, but managed to recover soon enough to remove her wand from her pocket and point it at her cousin.

"Al, you know as well as I do that Aunt Ginny taught me how to cast a Bat-Bogey Hex!" Rose threatened.

"Well, Rosie, my father did teach me how to block those!" Al retorted.

They kept yelling at each other for a while - mainly Al teasing Rose and her getting angry. James and I glanced at each other, both of us laughing. Although we both had different memories of the two of them bickering, we knew better than anyone else that Al and Rose would still be best friends at the end.

"Scorpy!" Al cried, in a comical imitation of Rose. "I miss you! I'm going to glomp you when you're back and crush you with my hugs! I miss you, Scorpy!"

Rose flushed a bright Weasley red, unable to come up with a retort.

"Ha! See, I knew that would stop you going at me!" Al exclaimed.

"Oh, I haven't stopped, Severus!" Rose replied, purposely calling Al by his middle name which he happened to dislike.

"Just when I thought they'd stopped," James muttered. I turned to him, smirking.

"You'll have to be ready for double the usual, James. They're really bad at Hogwarts," I said. I watched James' jaw tighten as he looked at Al. He seemed tense in that moment.

I didn't think much into it, though. I focussed my attention back to Rose and Al.

Merlin, I'd missed them.

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**a/n**: Here's a new chapter for y'all! I don't know how good it is, but I covered everything I wanted to in this chapter.

How did you like Iris? And Al and Rose and their amazing bond? How's James in this as well? Please do tell me in a review!

Concrit welcome, in fact appreciated :)

~ Isha


	3. Two - Iris

**disclaimer:** nothing you recognize belongs to me.

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**Watch the Walls Crash Down**

_Chapter Two - Iris_

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A few years after the Battle of Hogwarts, a Muggleborn wizard named Euan Abercrombie had appealed to the Department of Magical Games and Sports for a new wizarding sport. It was an adapted version of a popular Muggle game that he had played at home.

Three summers later, after much rule-changing and clarification, the Head of the Department announced an exhibition match between the Ballycastle Bats and Puddlemere United. They had been the winners and runners-up of the League that season and fans looked forward to the match. There was a catch, though: instead of being a Quidditch match, it would be a match of 'Throw'.

A match of Throw went on for ninety minutes. Two teams of seven players each on brooms; the referee released a quaffle in the air and the players rushed to seize it. Players of the same time passed to each other and they couldn't pass back to the person who'd passed to them. When seven such throws to each other had been executed by a single team, that team would earn ten points. Of course, they had to take care not to let the quaffle drop or let the opposition steal it from them. Once anything of that sort happened, it was back to square one. Counting was started again.

Throw was a simple game though it had met with a lot of criticism at first. The match between the Bats and Puddlemere was a well-attended one; the wizarding community had wanted to know what this new game was all about. My mother had been an employee of the Department of Ministry-Media Relations at the time, thus she had gone to the match as a spokesperson. She always told me about what an amazing day that had been.

Diana Willis had been a Chaser of the Bats at the time. She had been graceful in her flying and a swift player. It had been her first ever game of Throw, but she had been better than any other player that evening - and that was saying something since everyone had been really good. At the eighty-ninth minute of the game, the score had been tied at two hundred and ten each. Diana Willis had had the quaffle on the sixth throw, and it had been up to her to end the match with a proper result.

She had successfully thrown to a Bats beater called Flint and the stadium had erupted into cheers. Amidst all the celebrations, my mother had felt her body ache. She had clutched a paining stomach and yelled. Her colleagues had taken her to St. Mungo's and my father had been summoned from his mission and it had been pretty much all chaos.

When my father asked my mom what she wanted the newborn's name to be, she'd said: "Iris Diana Carlington. Iris because it's your favorite flower and it rhymes with Chris, Carlington for you. Diana because I am never going to forget the day she was born."

I was very well-versed with this story; it had been like a bedtime tale to me. My mother described the match with such passion and she told my brother and I about how enthralling it had been. The imagery in her story was vivid and engaging, so it was no doubt that I had begun to love the game.

Throw never got as big as Quidditch, but it acquired a place in family outings and traditions. It also acquired a place in my heart. I couldn't play Quidditch to save my life – there was no position appropriate for me. Throw, however, I could play well. It was as though the rules were hardwired in me and the strategies just sprung up in my brain. It was like I was a natural.

That was why, two hours later, I found myself playing my third game of Throw on the roof of Grimmauld Place and actually enjoying it.

The roof had ancient enchantments till a few feet above that prevented Muggles from seeing us fly. It was an amazing piece of magic that allowed us to do whatever we wanted.

Al and Rose had teamed up against James and I, and they were narrowly losing. Both of them were actually really good, and they had much better co-ordination than us. Al had done enough Chaser training to know tricks about stealing the quaffle from us while Rose was the perfect sidekick. Since there were just two players per team, we had tweaked the rule slightly so that passing back to each other was allowed. That should have made the game easier, but didn't. Al and Rose were tough competition.

James was considerably fit and still had strength in him. He could throw the quaffle far out of Al or Rose's reach. I was a fast flyer and I would know exactly where he would throw. We complimented each other perfectly in that aspect.

"Enough for today," Rose said, panting. She had one of her hands clutched onto her broom and one hand wiping the sweat of her face. "Honestly, you two, no, all three of you made me fly like there was a dragon chasing me."

She glared at Al, who shrugged. "You should've thought of that before teaming up with me, Rosiekins."

All four of us lowered our height and slowly got off our brooms. James went off to his room and Al said something about writing to Scorpius. Rose escorted me to the room she was staying in.

"What's up with him?" I asked her, signalling to the door. Rose looked up from moving the clothes on her bed so that we could sit.

"Who, James? Or Al? Well, James is usually like this and has been so the entirety of summer. As for Al...he keeps giving excuses but he's fooling no one. Claims he's owling Scorpius or Clemence, but I'm sure it's someone else," Rose saw the puzzled look on my face. "Clemence Fawcett, that Ravenclaw sixth year? Well, he says they're together. I'm not so certain myself, and I don't even care."

She went back to sorting out her clothes while I leaned against the wall. "Hey, Rosie?" I called. "Do you think it's Alice he's writing to? It's possible, isn't?"

"I don't know, Iris. I guess it's possible. It just seems slightly unlikely. You know I want two of you to sort things out, but I haven't written to Ali in ages," Rose replied. "And _that_ reminds me of a promise you made to me at the end of last year, miss."

She was looking pointedly at me. I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Rosie, you know I love you, but it's too much to ask for. I see her face and I feel like slapping her across the cheeks," I said. "Besides, we haven't really had time to talk."

Rose made a face. "That's bullshit, and you know that. You were at Leaky today, you could have easily gone and asked to talk to her! Five minutes is all you needed, but no, you had to throw your chance because of that _stupid_ ego of yours!"

"Rosie, I don't want to talk about it."

"Neither do I, Iris, but it hurts me that two of my best friends are refusing to talk to each other over something as idiotic as a _boy_!" Rose exclaimed. "And the worst part is that you made me _choose_, Iris. I know I should have said something then instead of trying to talk to you now, but I actually _chose_! I feel horrible for doing that, and I think that you should as well. For everything."

"I hate myself for what I did, Rosie, don't get me wrong, but it's time Alice realize that too!" I countered.

Rose let out a breath and collapsed on her bed. For a minute, nothing seemed to move and no one said a thing. I sighed and walked to her side. I sat down besides her.

"I promise I'll talk to her, Rosie. I will after we return to Hogwarts. It's just...I don't like remembering the monster I was. I'd much rather think of Alice as the criminal and be done with it," I said calmly.

Rose nodded, understanding. "So. Don't you want to tell me how much of a dick Daniel Wood is?" I groaned, while she giggled. She shifted over to the other side of the bed and I lied down on where she had previously been sitting. After we were settled, I launched into the whole story about my disastrous date evening. Soon, we were talking about Rose and Scorpius and the date he had taken her on the previous week. The topic diverted to some gossip, and it went on like that.

The sun slowly set outside, but we were too engrossed in our talks to see. Night fell yet I was too excited to be talking to Rose like this after a long time to notice. I guess that's how it is - time passes quicker when you're with someone you love.

Later, when we went down so I could Floo back home, a surprise awaited us. My mother was on the couch in the sitting room with Al's mother.

"Iris Diana Carlington! Exactly _what_ were you thinking not returning home?" she said, half-yelling and half-questioning. She was pretty scary when angry. "I went by to the Leaky Caudron and the your friend Alice told me that you'd left alone and nearly about to cry! So I thought you would be home, but I rushed to find no one in there! How do you think I felt, young lady?"

I mentally cursed Alice, swearing to myself that I would slap her the next time we met.

"I was about to Floo home, Mum, I swear I was! I just, well, got a bit distracted," I replied. Honestly, I hated it when she yelled at me. I could never resist defending myself when that happened.

"You should have just _called_ home, Iris," Mum said disappointingly. "That answering machine's not home for nothing."

I sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, Mum," I apologized.

"Yes, you shouldn't have. Anyway, your Dad and I are going out for dinner with the Lynches. Janus is at theirs with Eoin and his other friends; he's staying the night. We'll be late. I would appreciate it if you were home when we returned."

Mum got up from the couch and headed to the fireplace. I loved my mother, I really did, but she was in one of those moods when I really wanted her gone. Rose had other plans.

"Wait, Mrs. Carlington?" she asked, making Mum turn back to look at her. "Iris could stay here for the night. I mean, I'm sure Aunt Ginny would have no problem with it and we could always share. Just...throwing that out there."

Mrs. Potter backed Rose up. "It would be a pleasure to have Iris stay with us tonight. It's not like there's a shortage of space," she said.

"I suppose that could work," Mum said, nodding. "Iris, I just hope you know that we aren't done!"

I nodded in affirmative and bid her farewell. Mrs. Potter did as well, and Rose waved awkwardly. A few minutes later, Mum was gone.

"I'm sorry," I apologized for Mum. "She's not usually this..._crazy_."

"Remind me to never do anything to make your Mum angry, Iris," All of us looked at Al, who had just entered the room. "She's almost as bad as Rosiekins when I tease her."

Rose heated up, drawing her wand at him and retorted. Al kept taunting her.

Merlin, not _again_.

* * *

Rose and I weren't the most conventional of best friends. We'd never been. We'd met on the Hogwarts Express when she'd decided to sit with me and had talked all journey. She had scared me a bit at first - back then, I wasn't used to someone that talkative. She told me later that I had scared her due to my knack of completely blocking her out when no one in her family had ever done it.

We'd warmed up to each other after discovering that we'd basically _have_ to band together since we were the only sane girls in the dormitory.

My friendship with Missy was completely different. She was a much better person than I would ever be - she was kind, and helpful, and hardworking. That's why she'd been made a Hufflepuff. It had been a serious blow at first, how the only real friend I had even after the train journey had not been sorted to my house.

It didn't affect us, though. We sat together in the classes Gryffindor and Hufflepuff had together; we spent our free time together in the library. As the years passed, we actually grew closer. I guess that's what happens when you've been best friends practically from birth.

In third year, I had taken Muggle Studies which neither Rose nor Missy had. I had usually sat alone and done my work quietly, not bothering anyone else. One day, a blonde roommate of mine had come and sat with me. She had broken down crying halfway through the lesson. I had kept my pride aside for the remainder of the lesson and consoled her.

Three months' worth of Muggle Studies classes later, Alice Longbottom and I had almost become best friends.

Rose, Alice and I had become a group after that. It had taken Rose a lot of time to warm up to her, but when she had, it felt like they'd known each other for ages.

After the big fight, things had gotten crazy. Alice relied on boys to get her mind of things and because she no longer had anyone willing to be there for her. Rose and I kept to ourselves and started studying a bit harder. Al and Scorp hadn't taken sides as such, but they naturally hung out more with the two of us than Alice. Missy had always really been _my_ friend, so she didn't speak to Alice unless absolutely necessary.

Rose had missed Alice, a _lot_. She had spoken to her sometimes, but it had been really awkward. So one day they just stopped. Then it officially became Rose and I versus Alice. Rose never wanted it to be - she never wanted to get involved in a fight between her two best friends.

I had always felt horrible when I thought about how we'd given her a choice; disgusted that I'd once been that person. However, it was that night at Grimmauld Place that I truly realized what a mistake I had made.

We stayed up till four and talked about anything and everything. A girls' night in ever aspect. But I saw how much Rose missed Alice and I understood that it didn't have to be me all the time. It didn't have to be me who was the innocent one and it didn't have to be me with all the problems. I learnt that how much ever you love yourself, _it is not always you_. So I vowed that at least when it came to Rose, I would never let my ego come in the way. Never.

I found that oath being tested the very next day.

We woke up late and walked down for breakfast. Al and James were already there, and it seemed that they had just got up as well.

"Good morning," I muttered. Mrs. Potter was in the kitchen making breakfast, and she echoed the greeting. Al said it too, and James nodded at me.

A few minutes later, we saw that there were four owls perched on the window sill, each carrying a letter with them.

"Hogwarts!" Rose exclaimed excitedly, making all of us laugh. She ran to the window, opened it and carefully took out the letters. "Here's yours, Al," she said, throwing one envelope to him. She then threw one to James, then one to me. The four of us opened our envelopes nearly at the same time, but the next moment was something none of us could have predicted.

Al held his letter and his envelope in his left hand, and on his right hand was something else, glistening in the light. He'd been made Quidditch Captain.

I hugged him in congratulations. He seemed too shocked to hug back, so he just stood there staring at the badge. Rose hugged him as well. Mrs. Potter came to the dining room and on realizing why the two of us had congratulated Al, she kissed him on his cheek and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

That wasn't enough excitement for the morning, though. It took all of us time but eventually we saw the Head Girl badge in her hands and started congratulating her as well. Mrs. Potter hugged her, as did Al and James. It took me some time to react, but in the end I congratulated her as well.

The rest of the morning was a breeze. Random family members dropped in to congratulate Al and Rose; even Teddy Lupin, their brother-in-law, Floo-ed from the Auror Office. Both of them were ecstatic. Al was already planning the try-outs and Rose was considering methods to make herself a well-loved Head Girl among the students.

I went home earlier than I had intended to. I saw no point in staying longer at Grimmauld Place when the friends I had come there for were busy planning their year ahead. Especially when I really had nothing to plan for.

When I reached home, my brother Janus excitedly relayed to me that he'd been made a Gryffindor Prefect. That just fueled my dislike for myself in that moment more - I felt as though _everyone_ was getting something but me. This was my ego acting up and all but I could feel it echoing in my brain: _why not me_? _Why Janus and Al, why Rose_? _Why not me_?

I had been naive and self-centered - I had actually counted myself as a contender for Head Girl. Many people had. No one thought I'd actually make it though, only I'd thought so. They had got what they'd expected though - Rose Amelia Weasley was Head Girl, congratulations to all.

There was a part of me, however, that asked me whether all of this really mattered.

Rose wrote to me that evening, pouring all her happiness in one letter. I know in that moment I should have felt happy for my best friend, but I didn't. I know in that moment I wanted to feel a hole in my heart, but surprisingly that didn't happen either. In that moment, I actually felt empty.

* * *

**a/n: **Another chapter, up in so much less than a week than the last chapter :)

Please give me your feedback. What do you think you liked in this chapter? What did you not like? I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING! :D

Concrit welcome, in fact appreciated.

~Isha


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